All posts in category Tools

- Main Street businesses still aren’t hiring. Last month, small businesses shed more than four times as many employees as larger businesses did, according to payroll processor ADP. [CNNMoney.com]

- As small-business owners try to cut travel costs, they’re increasingly looking to Web conferencing. Fuze, Zoho Meeting and GoToMeeting are some of the best options available, with prices ranging from $12 per month to $50 per month. [Inc. magazine]

- Some small-business employers fear the possibility of a mandate in health care reform proposals that employers must pay for insurance. They’re concerned even as some of them may be eligible to get federal money to cover the costs of providing insurance. The National Federation of Independent Businesses says that such a mandate would force businesses to cut 1.6 million jobs over five years. [Kaiser Health News]

It comes as no surprise that Apple Inc. is focusing its new iPhone advertisements on small businesses next. Since the Apple App Store opened 10 months ago for the iPhone and the iPod Touch, it is now approaching its 1 billionth download, which should come as early as tomorrow. Consumer demand caused about 110 million “apps” to be downloaded each month; these apps, from the frivolous to the practical, are free or can be bought for 99 cents or $1.99.

But the new iPhone 3G ads running now on television’s prime-time hours show a small-business bent. Users, the narration says, can use the iPhone to process credit-card transactions using Inner Fence’s Credit Card Terminal application; print a shipping label for a package using the Print & Share app; and check on the status of a delivery with FedEx Mobile app.

- Some ways to find business leads using Twitter. Among them: Using the advanced search function and setting up RSS to monitor other conversations. [DuctTapeMarketing.com]

- The state of black entrepreneurship in the U.S. is bleak, researchers say. [Entrepreneur.com]

- We mentioned this week how the bottled water industry is getting some flack for being environmentally hazardous. Some companies are now fighting back by introducing – ta-da – boxed water. [FastCompany]

Fed up with seeing local small businesses being ravaged by the economic downturn, some people are taking matters into their own hands. They’re trying to reverse the fortunes of mom-and-pop stores by becoming more organized in “buying local.”

– In Fort Myers, Fla., people driving by Clancey’s Restaurant saw this huge sign outside: “Support the local economy. Patronize locally owned businesses.” Local businesses there say that for every $100 spent at a chain or national business, only $14 stays in town, but when spent at locally owned businesses, the amount triples to $45. However, code enforcement officials made the restaurant take the sign down. The restaurant is currently working to get a permit to put it back up.

– A food bank in Humboldt County in California is trying to save the local economy with food stamps. Food for People is rolling out its “Bring a Million to Humboldt County” campaign, which aims to enroll everyone eligible into the food-stamp program. Businesses in the county could see an extra $12 million boost circulating in the local economy this year as food-stamp dollars get spent in local stores and local farmers’ markets. A study by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service found that every dollar spent in food stamps generates $1.84 in economic activity; another study by Moody’s Economy.com found that food-stamp dollar spending generates $1.73 in economic activity. Even Congress has realized this: the economic stimulus package passed earlier this year is giving Humboldt County an additional $6.25 million in food-stamp benefits, which could generate some $11.5 million in local economic activity. But the stigma of food stamps could hamper those plans: only 46% of those that are eligible in the county participate, translating to $14 million in food stamp money that goes unused annually.

Small business owners will talk your ear off about the dangers of relying on one big customer to stay afloat. But what about relying on one service provider?

A columnist for Slate’s Big Money blog counts all the ways his business relies on Google – and it takes a while. First, there’s AdSense, Google’s online ad program from businesses. Then there’s Google Analytics, for measuring traffic to the company Web site. The author’s company used a service called FeedBurner to manage RSS feeds, and that was bought by Google.

And it doesn’t end with online products and services – Google also helps with day-to-day tasks. The company uses Google’s free Web-based document service instead of Microsoft Word and Excel. And they recently switched to Gmail, Google’s free online email service. It beats having a sophisticated server and local area network, says author Jonathan Weber, the founder, publisher, and CEO of new media company New West.

- A new poll by the Kauffman Foundation shows most entrepreneurs and aspiring entrepreneurs believe the U.S. government could do more to help them. About 63% of respondents think it should make it easier for individuals to create and grow businesses, while 22% think the government should create jobs; only 33% said they support the recent economic stimulus package. [Kauffman]

- Cyber-criminals increasingly target small and mid-sized businesses, according to panelists at the Visa Security Summit in Washington this week. Big reasons: Nearly two-thirds of small businesses don’t use security encryption on their wireless Internet or have a security plan in place. One-fifth of small businesses don’t even use anti-virus software. [DarkReading.com]

Many small businesses hope to win a slice of the government’s $787-billion stimulus money by procuring contracts with federal, state or local governments, as I recently wrote. But there’s a problem: They don’t know where to start.

Navigating the patchwork of federal agencies and learning the rules and steps to government contracting is a time-consuming process. Thankfully, there are numerous organizations and seminars to help business owners get educated on government contracting and even put them in touch with the right people at the right agencies.

The Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council offers a guide on some helpful resources to entrepreneurs looking to break into government contracting for the first time. Here are some of the places it suggests turning for help:

Yes, this is the frenzy that accompanies Korean taco trucks in the Los Angeles area. And the reason is the way it gets its word out. Starting last November, Kogi Korean BBQ-To-Go, the vendor that sells the $2 taco with spicy pork, chicken or tofu soaked in red chili vinaigrette and doused with kimchi, “capitalizes on emerging technology by sending out Twitter alerts so fans know where to find it at any given time,” according to a New York Times article last week. Its marketing plan included having someone be in charge of social networking.